The Town of Stokesdale is served by a Mayor and four Council members. The Town Council meets on the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Stokesdale Town Hall located at 8325 Angel Pardue Road.

The Town Charter of the Town of Stokesdale specifies that the Town will operate under the mayor-council plan as provided in Part 3 of Article 7 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes of North Carolina.

Initially, elections were held every two years with the terms being staggered so that two positions were filled at one election and three positions being filled at the subsequent election. Council members serve four-year terms of office. After a referendum election on November 2, 2004, the Town charter was amended to require the election of the Town Mayor by holding mayoral elections every four years. Pursuant to the Town charter change, one of the five council members seats became the mayor seat. At the regular 2005 election, one mayor and one council member was elected. The person receiving the highest number of votes for the mayor seat was elected mayor for a four-year term. The person receiving the highest number of votes for the council member seat was elected for a four -year term.